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Flood protection

Controlling floods in megacities with no regrets

Nature Water volume 1, pages 136–137 (2023)Cite this article

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Strategies for mitigating climate change driven floods in Shanghai apply regret theory to guide the best choice from alternate engineered flood control scenarios.

Now writing in Nature Water, Tian et al.4 present a study that addresses the uncertainty of flood modelling within the decision framework of no-regrets theory. The research outcome is to recommend the best choices of flood protection for Shanghai, a megacity of 25 million, with extensive industry and infrastructure at elevations close to sea level. Shanghai is the busiest and largest port in the world, of immense importance to China’s economy. With such a concentration of industry, infrastructure and investment at a vulnerable site any kind of relocation is not an option. Shanghai has always been exposed to flooding from the Huangpu River, which flows through the centre and central business district, and its adjacency to the Yangtze for which there exist 2,000 years of flood records5. The current need to protect the city from regular floods and future threats, combined with rapid urban growth, has necessitated extensive protection.

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  1. Centre for Disaster Studies, College of Science and Engineering, James Cook University, Townsville, Australia

    David King

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  1. David King
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Correspondence to David King.

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The author declares no competing interests.

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King, D. Controlling floods in megacities with no regrets. Nat Water 1, 136–137 (2023). https://doi.org/10.1038/s44221-023-00032-5

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1038/s44221-023-00032-5

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